Posted
by
samzenpus
on Monday March 10, 2014 @10:06AM
from the on-the-go dept.

Zothecula writes "A European project coordinated by Ikerlan and CIC microGUNE is developing a James Bond-style automated laboratory called 'LABoratory skin patches and smart cards based ON FOILs and compatible with a smartphone' (LABONFOIL). Using lab-on-a-chip technology and smart patches to detect a wide variety of substances and diagnose diseases, the goal of the project is to create a cheap, portable laboratory that can interact with smart devices."

That's how it's written on the actual website, too. The only place it's in all caps is in the logo.

LabOnFoil is the acronym chosen to designate the project named "Laboratory Skin Patches and SmartCards based on foils and compatible with a smartphone"

The author of the gizmag article is a dumbass who copied and pasted text, then went out of his way to fuck up the capitalization and needlessly capitalize "on foil" when the people behind the project are doing no such thing.

If you'd ever had a colonoscopy, you'd really appreciate the non-invasive method of detecting colon cancer. It was mentioned in TFA, BTW.

Sorry, but this device ain't gonna fix that. As per their webpage [labonfoil.eu] they use a test for CEA as a marker for recurrence of cancer. This is not even an effective screening test [webmd.com], and nothing that isn't already available. Better get your prep ready, you're gonna get probed again!

So it will manufacture pen guns and 10 in 1 Rolex's?Oh... it will only "detect a wide variety of substances and diagnose diseases"Because we all know that Bond did forensics and cured the sick.FYI: Bond was not a CSI type or a detective -- he was an assassin.

...I think of counters ticking down to self-destruct, consoles erupting in pyrotechnics, and impossibly hot women trying desperately to escape. Pretty sure I don't want all of those in a portable form-factor.

The story completely fails to elaborate on the contents of the box. If it's just an instant test for drugs, then there's little new. The idea that you could just replace a general analytical laboratory with a single gizmo is the product of a mind untrained in chemistry. A gas, liquid or ion chromatograph has a column, which must be of at least a certain length to produce good resolution, and ramping up the pressure would hardly be an option, since that would require heavier pressure-proof lines and pumps. H